How to Hire the Right Realtor for the Job

My brother-in-law’s cousin ( who lives in my neighborhood) sells real estate part time and he feels that he can help me to sell my home in a short sale. You see, I need to sell my home in a short sale, but I am not sure about this. What should I do? –Needs to Sell Home in Escondido

Dear Needs to Sell Home in Escondido:

I’m sorry to hear that you need to sell your home in a short sale. The good news is that there are many qualified Realtors® with lots of short sale experience who can help you to get your short sale processed and approved quickly and efficiently—despite what you have heard about short sales in the news.

If you are considering hiring your brother-in-law’s cousin to help you, you should probably ask him (or her) a number of questions before signing on the dotted line. First off, you will want to ask about his or her experience with short sales. How many has s/he listed? How many has s/he closed in the last year? Specifically, how many transactions has s/he closed with your lending institution? You may even want evidence of these closings such as a recent report from the local Multiple Listing Service.

You will also want to ask the Realtor® to describe his or her experience processing short sales with your lending institution? Generally, how long does this specific lending institution take? And, if there are two loans, what is this agent’s experience processing short sales with more than one loan?

Gifted agents experienced listing short sales will know about the banks’ policies and procedures off the top of their head. They can tell you bank time frames without blinking an eye. They can even tell you about government programs such as HAMP and HAFA and the success rates of these programs.

I can understand your hesitation about hiring an agent you do not know, but is this agent (your brother-in-law’s cousin) can answer all of these questions, then s/he will likely fit the bill. Otherwise, you can use these questions as a conversation starter with other agents who you might want to hire.

Best of luck with your short sale. If you have any questions along the way, please do not hesitate to give me a call. –Broadpoint

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